Meal plan makeover – part deux

May 17, 2012

This has been the week of planning a meal and going with something completely different. It’s a small point of pride that we’ve been making menu plans EVERY WEEK since I’ve moved to Baltimore. We’re usually pretty good about sticking to them. This week though, its been a challenge! For some reason my past me thought it’d be a good idea to use the oven during a week of 70-80 degree weather! Oops. But since we’re on a money saving kick (and a non-wasteful in general, kick), I didn’t want to let the food we bought go to waste. Since a lot of what I pick up is fresh produce, its pretty important to use it during the week or else it can go bad, especially with this warmer weather.

One of the meals we had planned to make was a stuffed eggplant. Sounds delicious and I’m sure it would be. But after an hour long run outside in the heat, the last thing I wanted to do was turn on the oven, not to mention wait an hour to eat after that. My past self is tricky though, I knew I’d feel that way – so I went ahead and started prepping the eggplant for while I was running, that way I’d at least have to come up with something USING the eggplant.

The great thing about a run (besides exercise, duh), is that it can give you a chance to think. Which is what I did. I also huffed and puffed my way up what feels like every hill in the neighborhood, but that’s neither here nor there (seriously though, EVERY hill). When I wasn’t cursing myself for choosing that particular route, I was trying to figure out what to do with that darn eggplant. Here were some of the points of thought going through my head:

Clearly, I’ve been on a Mexican food kick lately, so in the end that’s what I sort’ve came up with. Eggplant can have a very meaty texture, and when marinated in some soy and ginger, it reminded me a bit of some steak strips, so I went with that flow and ended up with something of a summer veggie fajita with Eggplant instead of beef strips. When I made it, I thought “eh” not so exciting, but now that I’m thinking about it – i’m pretty satisfied with the result.

For toppings I added fresh pepper strips, a corn and bean mix that I added salsa to, some spinach, and tofutti sour cream and of course, taco sauce. Delicious, healthy and just another way that a menu can be adapted to suit our moods or weather.

What else have we learned here tonight? That I am clearly the world’s worst burrito maker. Ever. That ish does not stay rolled. My wrap to filling ratio is clearly off.